Amos. I'm bad news. It got so when I reported aboard a ship people cried like babies. That destroyer was the first to sink under me and then a cruiser tried to take me down at Savo Island. Then the Liscome Bay, off Makin, tried to blow me up. She really tried, too. When she exploded, it rained human flesh down on the New Mexico, fifteen hundred yards astern. I'm bad news, Amos, but if you want me along, I guess it don't make no never-mind to me, because they can't kill me."
Reeder put his head down in his hands. "You guys are really nuts. When we get to that island there are going to be a million people all over this boat."
"There's nothing we can do about that," Amos said.
Sundance Atoll was lovely, lying green and misty in the blue sea, the main, volcanic island rising into a bank of clouds. There was no evidence of the weapons implanted there; no long barrels of the coast-defense or anti-aircraft guns showing, no gray warships, not a plane in the sky. The channel was empty of all boats. The only sign of life was a native outrigger being paddled along the coast.
Amos, concealed in the engine room, watched Tanaka pull the throttle back and heard the diesel beside him slow down.
He glanced back at Reeder, suited up and ready.
Amos had put off the inevitable confrontation for
as long as he could but, just before dawn, he had finally found enough courage to go up to Reeder's fort. "It's time to go below and check your gear, Reeder," Amos told him.
"Just count me out, Ensign."
"No. But I'll give you two choices. If you stay aboard, there's no place to hide you in this boat. If they search it and find you, we won't be able to get any sort of message to Pearl. This whole thing will be a waste. If you go with us, Tanaka will pick us all up tomorrow night, and we'll go home."
"If I stay, Tanaka kills me. Right? If I go, I take my chances."
"You figure it out."
Reeder squatted there a long time. "For once, Ensign, you may be right. I'll have a chance in the water. Not much of one, but a chance."
It had been so easy that Amos had just smiled at him.
Tanaka eased the throttle back a little more and then leaned down and said, "We may get a real break. There's a squall coming in fast. I'm trying to make it so we'll be alongside the lava when the rain starts."
"Won't this change of speed make them suspicious?" Amos asked.
"They'd be suspicious if I didn't slow down," Tanaka told him. "They're very fussy about speed in the channel. Must have some equipment on shore they don't want broken up by wake waves."
"That's lucky for us."
"This squall may be real luck. If it rains hard enough, I'll take a chance on stopping entirely when we get alongside the lava."
Amos glanced back at Max and Reeder to see if they had heard. John and Max nodded, and Reeder grinned.
They looked strange in the gray rubber wet suits, only their faces showing inside the round holes of the helmets. Each of them had a two-tank pack, fins, gloves, and a miscellany of gear strung from a weight belt.
They had spent part of the night building a tunnel through the copra sacks so that they could crawl to the rail without being seen, and had decided to go over with Max first, then John, Reeder, and Amos.
Their supplies had been packed in copra sacks, with copra stuffed in to make them look the same as all the rest and were now stowed along the gunwale, ready to be pushed over at the signal.
"Looks good," Tanaka said, leaning down into the engine room. "It's raining all across the lagoon now, and it should be really pouring when we get abeam of the lava. Are you ready, Amos?"
"As I'll ever be," Amos said, motioning for Max to move up and get into position.
"Just a few more minutes," Tanaka said. "I'll give you the word."
Amos looked at the huge man ahead of him. "When you go over, Max, bite down on that mouthpiece."
"Chomp, chomp," Max said.
It seemed to be getting darker in the room.
"You set, John?" Amos asked.
John just nodded, adjusting the
Reeder put his head down in his hands. "You guys are really nuts. When we get to that island there are going to be a million people all over this boat."
"There's nothing we can do about that," Amos said.
Sundance Atoll was lovely, lying green and misty in the blue sea, the main, volcanic island rising into a bank of clouds. There was no evidence of the weapons implanted there; no long barrels of the coast-defense or anti-aircraft guns showing, no gray warships, not a plane in the sky. The channel was empty of all boats. The only sign of life was a native outrigger being paddled along the coast.
Amos, concealed in the engine room, watched Tanaka pull the throttle back and heard the diesel beside him slow down.
He glanced back at Reeder, suited up and ready.
Amos had put off the inevitable confrontation for
as long as he could but, just before dawn, he had finally found enough courage to go up to Reeder's fort. "It's time to go below and check your gear, Reeder," Amos told him.
"Just count me out, Ensign."
"No. But I'll give you two choices. If you stay aboard, there's no place to hide you in this boat. If they search it and find you, we won't be able to get any sort of message to Pearl. This whole thing will be a waste. If you go with us, Tanaka will pick us all up tomorrow night, and we'll go home."
"If I stay, Tanaka kills me. Right? If I go, I take my chances."
"You figure it out."
Reeder squatted there a long time. "For once, Ensign, you may be right. I'll have a chance in the water. Not much of one, but a chance."
It had been so easy that Amos had just smiled at him.
Tanaka eased the throttle back a little more and then leaned down and said, "We may get a real break. There's a squall coming in fast. I'm trying to make it so we'll be alongside the lava when the rain starts."
"Won't this change of speed make them suspicious?" Amos asked.
"They'd be suspicious if I didn't slow down," Tanaka told him. "They're very fussy about speed in the channel. Must have some equipment on shore they don't want broken up by wake waves."
"That's lucky for us."
"This squall may be real luck. If it rains hard enough, I'll take a chance on stopping entirely when we get alongside the lava."
Amos glanced back at Max and Reeder to see if they had heard. John and Max nodded, and Reeder grinned.
They looked strange in the gray rubber wet suits, only their faces showing inside the round holes of the helmets. Each of them had a two-tank pack, fins, gloves, and a miscellany of gear strung from a weight belt.
They had spent part of the night building a tunnel through the copra sacks so that they could crawl to the rail without being seen, and had decided to go over with Max first, then John, Reeder, and Amos.
Their supplies had been packed in copra sacks, with copra stuffed in to make them look the same as all the rest and were now stowed along the gunwale, ready to be pushed over at the signal.
"Looks good," Tanaka said, leaning down into the engine room. "It's raining all across the lagoon now, and it should be really pouring when we get abeam of the lava. Are you ready, Amos?"
"As I'll ever be," Amos said, motioning for Max to move up and get into position.
"Just a few more minutes," Tanaka said. "I'll give you the word."
Amos looked at the huge man ahead of him. "When you go over, Max, bite down on that mouthpiece."
"Chomp, chomp," Max said.
It seemed to be getting darker in the room.
"You set, John?" Amos asked.
John just nodded, adjusting the
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